Perils in Organized Crime
by readingrainbows
Summary: "Wait, you're in the mafia? Like, the illegal kind? But you're a chick! And you're so hot!"
1. part un

_This fandom needs some serious diversity._

* * *

Something very wrong was going on, and I was about to get to the bottom of it.

For the past few months, my girlfriend had been coming home at ungodly hours of the night. I know for a fact that she gets off work at nine, but she's been making a habit of coming home way past midnight and trying to sneak into the room without waking me, even though I stay up waiting for her.

I'd been trying to tell myself that there must a very viable reason for Jade to come home so late. I'd been racking my brain, trying to find excuses for the way she answered all my concerned questions with some bogus response like "Um, the gym." And through all that, I'd formulated this very heartbreaking realization about what must be going on, and I sat pondering it on the kitchen table early that morning, waiting for Jade, because she hadn't come home _at all_ last night.

I've come to the conclusion that when Jade says "The gym" she really means A Guy Named Jim Who I Am Sleeping With Behind Your Back. There's no other explanation! She leaves for work at three in the afternoon _on the dot_ and doesn't come back for like twelve hours straight. And when she finally gets home, she's all rumpled and exhausted and sometimes (!) she's even grinning like crazy, like she just had the best time _while I was, you know, sitting up all night worrying about her_.

And I had finally decided to confront her about it. It's been weeks—months!—of this type of behavior, and I needed answers. If she really was seeing someone else, the least she could do was come clean, or I don't know, be less _obvious_ about it. And yes, it did kill me to think that there was some other guy out there (goddamn it Jim, if I ever find you, I'll kill you) who makes her happy and rumpled, but frankly leaving me in the dark and treating me like some pining housewife was just not the way to go!

And if she really was seeing someone else, well I'm sure we could always work through it, right? Maybe that asshole had something I don't have (like, uhm, a job maybe?) but I could get a job! I was trying really hard to land an acting gig, but I would give it all up if Jade wanted someone who was more financially stable, I would, for her—

I heard the lock of the front door click into place and I stood up. I raised myself to my full height and fisted my hands on my hips, trying to look disapproving. I'm really bad at being mad at her, you see. Any other guy would have confronted his girlfriend a lot sooner had he thought she was cheating, but I just kept my mouth shut, hoping she'd give me an explanation or something—

"Hey," she muttered shuffling in. My angry expression dissolved almost immediately at the sight of her. She looked completely worn-out, her hair was mussed and she was practically dragging her feet. It looked like she hadn't slept all night. The possible reasoning for this made my sympathy vanish, and brought real anger forward.

"We have to talk." I demanded, and to my surprise, Jade stared at me for a second, searching my face before sighing heavily and nodding.

"Yeah, I guess we do." She murmured, leading the way into the living room.

I swallowed hard before following her.

"Jade," I started once I entered; she was standing on the rug next to the couch but she hadn't sat down yet. She started toeing off her (very expensive, my god) heels before crossing her arms over her chest and raising her eyebrows at me.

I took a deep breath. This needed to be mature and rational and level-headed, so that if she had to choose, she would choose me.

"I KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN CHEATING ON ME, JADE WEST AND IT'S NOT RIGHT. I DESERVE BETTER. I WILL NOT PUT UP WITH THIS KIND OF SHENANIGANS; I THOUGHT WE LOVED EACH OTHER. HAS THE LAST YEAR OF OUR LIVES BEEN JUST A LIE TO YOU."

"What?" she hissed wide-eyed, all the exhaustion in her face draining away. She looked genuinely shocked, but _humph_, I wouldn't fall for her act.

"Yes," I said, trying to regain some calmness and dignity, "I know, the signs are all there. You always smell like _smoke_, Jade, come on! You really want a smoker in your life? I can't…I don't want to play games with you, this relationship _means_ something to me—"

"Oh my god Beck, shut up."

I opened and closed my mouth a few times before doing what she said. The thing is, she's looking kind of angry and I've always been a bit scared of her wrath the (very few) times it's been directed at me.

"I am not _cheating_ on you. How the hell could you think that? God, I'm like living in your shitty apartment, and I've never lived with a guy before! I come home to you every night—"

"Well not last night!" I pointed out angrily, but also a bit relived that maybe I'd been wrong about the whole gym/Jim thing, "You never tell me where you've been and you come home so late and the smoke Jade, the smoke. What am I supposed to think?"

"Well not that I'm cheating!" she screeched, glaring hard at me and stepping closer, but I wasn't going to back down.

"Well what then?" I yelled back, stepping closer as well.

"I've just been busy at work!"

"Work! I know for a fact that you haven't had a case in weeks! God, Jade would you stop fucking _lying_ to me already!"

That seemed to shut her up. I never cussed at her, never. That was more of her thing. Still though, I was shaking with anger. She just kept lying and lying and expecting me to trust her. How could we have a relationship like that? Built up on deception and subterfuge and really awesome sex?

"I have been busy at work." She answered quietly after a long moment. Her voice was hoarse from how loud she's been screaming.

She sunk down to the floor, resting her back against the couch and sighing loudly. "I've just been doing a different kind of work."

My bones suddenly felt icy. I gulped, abruptly afraid of what she was going to say next and sat down next to her. I poked her on the knee until she looked up at me.

"What?" I asked softly, "You mean like…prostitution?"

She stared at me completely blank for a moment as my heart hammered against my chest. She blinked twice and then reared her hand back and slapped me across the face.

"NO!" she screamed, "I'M JUST IN THE MOB, OKAY?"

"What?" I asked, not even feeling the stinging on my cheek anymore. I was so shocked I couldn't process her words. What did she mean the mob? With the hardcore tattoos and bandanas? Like gunfights and shanking's and violent initiation ceremonies where they beat you to a bloody pulp and declare you a permanent part of their brotherhood?

"You're thinking of gangsters, idiot." She said and I looked up surprised, realizing I'd been saying my thoughts aloud.

"Wait…so," I was still in shock, my head was reeling and I guess she took pity on me because she exhaled loudly and scooted closer, looking at me with gentler eyes.

"The mob is a secret society. It's not like a gang, because gangs are messy, gangs get caught. The mafia is built around the idea of organized crime, it's much larger scale than any kind of gang, and it has its own government. It's why I got to work in nice dresses instead of, you know, _bandanas_."

I shook my head, still not completely understanding.

"Wait, you're in the _mafia_? Like, the illegal kind? But you're a chick! And you're so hot!"

Jade pulled a face and rolled her eyes, looking away from me.

"Yes," she muttered, "The illegal kind. And it makes no difference whether you're a guy or a girl."

"Do you like…do you have a gun?" I whispered the last part.

She bit her lip as if debating whether or not to tell me before she turned her face to look at the wall. She gave a very tiny up-down motion with her head. Oh my god, my girlfriend has a gun! All those times I made her mad!

I was quiet for a long time. Like, a really long time, as I digested all of this. And I guess it was a little too long for Jade though, because she turned to me suddenly and said in a desperate voice,

"Look, I never thought I would tell you, okay? I could have lived my whole life pretending I was normal. I didn't want…I never wanted you to know."

"Come on," I said, crossing my arms over my chest and getting frustrated, "You couldn't have kept it to yourself forever. I would have figured it out eventually."

She shot me a level look, eyes cool and half-lidded, "I've been AWOL for the past three months," she pointed out, "And you never suspected anything."

I opened my mouth to fire back that I did suspect _something_, I thought she was cheating on me, but due to the outcome of our most recent conversation on that same topic, I had a funny feeling it wouldn't go over too well, so I smartly snapped my mouth shut again.

Jade started grumbling, picking absentmindedly at the threads on my rug and glancing tensely from me to the floor again.

"I didn't want to tell you," she said in a soft murmur, "But freaking Tori said it was only matter of time before you followed me like an idiot and got yourself killed. It was better to come clean, she said." Jade looked at me then and worried her bottom lip between her teeth, "Or you know, breakup with you or whatever."

"Tori?" I asked, putting my hand over hers before she could rip the carpet to shreds, "Is that like a friend from work?"

She stared at me for a second in disbelief before extracting her hand from my grip and burying her head in it, frustrated.

"Yes, Beck," she answered, way too sarcastically if you ask me, "A _friend_ from _work_. Sometimes, at the end of a really long shift we like to get happy hour drinks together and, you know, sing karaoke and shit." She raised her head to meet my eyes. She was mocking me, I could tell, but her eyes were clouded and upset and she didn't seem to be enjoying it the way she usually does.

"God, okay," I said frowning, "You don't have to be so mean about it."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Right," she said through clenched teeth, "You're totally right. I should be nicer about it. I really should, since there are so many nice things to say about the fucking _mafia_!"

"Hey," I said, getting angry now, "How would I know how this works? The most experience I have with this stuff is from what I saw in that movie _The Godfather_. Three hours ago, I was sure you were cheating on me with some other guy, and now I find out that actually, you aren't. Actually, the reason you come home so late and get so jumpy when I ask you questions is because you've been out all night getting into gunfights in deserted alleyways! So yeah, I think asking you to be a little nicer about isn't too out of the question!"

"Look," she said, firing up as well. She stood and I did too, standing a few feet away from each other. "If you want to breakup with me, just freaking say it, okay? Don't make me feel bad for not sugarcoating my screwed-up life for you! It's not like I ever wanted you to _know_—"

"Hey," I said, moving closer, "Who said anything about breaking up? I don't want to break up. Do you?"

She gaped for a few seconds; such an unusual look on her, before she snapped her mouth closed and composed herself again. "You don't want to breakup?" she narrowed her eyes and looked me up and down suspiciously, "Even after knowing what I am and…and what I do?"

"Well," I started softly, inching a little closer and threading my fingers through hers, "I don't know what you do, not exactly. But as for who you are Jade, I've always loved that. Even when I was sure you were seeing someone else, I…it made me so upset because I knew how much I loved you, and it sucked to think that you didn't love me as much. I wasn't even really mad that you were cheating, I was mad at myself for not doing anything about it. So yeah I still want to be with you, of course I do."

I smiled down at her but she didn't look too convinced. She pulled me down to the couch with her and looked away again.

"There are some things I'll never be able to tell you," She confessed in a whisper almost, closing her eyes briefly before opening them again, "It's a lot like living a double life, Beck. Would you be able to do that? To just not know where I've been or what I've been up to? I could disappear for weeks at a time without giving you any notice and then come back again like nothing ever happened. Do you really want that?"

I swallowed, looking away from her. I didn't want that, not really. It sounded terrible not to know, the past few months had been hard enough and back then I'd just thought she'd gotten bored of me. Now I knew that she would be in danger, when she came home late there was always a possibility that she'd be a bloody mess, or that she wouldn't come home at all. But what was my other option? Being without her? Breaking up and lying in bed all alone without her in my life at all, wondering where she was or what she was doing and not even being able to check if she got home okay? Wasn't that worse?

I looked at her again only to see that she was staring steadily at the wall across the room. Her eyebrows were drawn together and she didn't look angry or pissed or anything really, except maybe a bit sad.

I took her face in my hands and turned it to look at me.

"Not knowing," I said in a whisper, searching her deeply blue eyes, "Would hurt me a lot. But…but being without you, Jade, breaking up would kill me. I'd rather be—"

"Shut up," she murmured, cutting me off and climbing onto my lap. She then proceeded to like, eat my face off. Not that I'm _complaining_ or anything, cause that girl has got a talented tongue, let me tell you, but I sort of thought we were having an important conversation there. So after a few minutes (alright, half an hour, shut up) of very intense making out, I managed to extract myself from her.

"Okay," I said trying to catch my breath, but she just attached her mouth (my god, her _mouth_) to my neck and started scarping her teeth there.

"Jade!" I said, grabbing her by the upper arms and trying to hold her off. Yes I am aware that preventing my unlawfully hot (mobster!) girlfriend from trying to have sex with me was seriously costing me my Man Card somewhere, but honestly, this was slightly more important than all that.

"_What_?" She asked all whiny and adorable and flushed pink. I smiled at her and shifted slightly so that she was positioned more comfortably on my lap and placed my hands on the dips in her waist.

"I just…I have a few more questions, okay?"

"No, not okay." Jade grumbled leaning away from me. "Why can't we just forget all this and have sex?"

"Because you're in the mafia! God, all this time—wait, how long exactly? I mean," I backtracked, trying to be sensitive, "Can you tell me?"

She gave me a searching look before climbing off my lap (boo) and settling down beside me.

"Since I was nineteen." She said in a small voice. God, seven years, my girlfriend's been in the mob for _seven years_…

"How'd you get into it?" I asked in a hushed voice. She gave me a dry look.

"Because I was an idiot." She answered darkly.

I wanted to ask more on that, but I had a feeling she wasn't too keen to talk about it.

"Aren't you worried about the police?" I asked, quite worried about the matter of her ending up in jail myself. She snorted and looked at me like I was stupid.

"Beck, we own the police."

God, my girlfriend _owns the police_…

Suddenly another thought came over me and I looked at her seriously. "Isn't it really dangerous, though Jade? Don't you get into bad situations sometimes? And…and that smoke I keep smelling…that's gun powder?"

She sighed loudly and looked down to her lap for a long minute. "I'm trained," she answered eventually, "I'm one of the best there is so you don't have to worry."

Don't have to worry, she says! My girlfriend comes home at all hours of the night reeking of gunpowder and I'm just not supposed to worry!

I opened my mouth to say something else but she just shook her head, focusing her eyes on me again.

"Look Beck, I don't like that I'm in it, but I'm in it for life. Plus I'm good at it, I'm _really_ good at it, and some nights, when a job just goes off perfectly and without a hitch, it's like the most exhilarating thing I've ever felt and I can't go back to just having a normal life." She looked at me with mournful eyes, swallowing hard. "I can't."

"One more question." I said hoarsely.

Jade clenched her eyes shut for a second before opening them again and looking away from me.

"Okay," she said softly, "What?"

I took a steeling breath in; if I had the answer to this question I could sleep easier at night. Leaving Jade wasn't an option, if she thought it was impossible for her to go back to a normal life, she had no idea how impossible it would be for me to live a life without her. I was terrified for her, hated the idea that this was her "career" that any day with her could be my last, but there was very little I could do to change it. There was only acceptance, and I was just trying to get a good amount of it.

"Can I meet your work friends?"

Jade's head shot up, shocked. She stared at me unblinkingly for a few seconds before she tilted her head back and started laughing. Like, a lot.

"Oh my god," she said _quite a while later_, after she'd settled down a bit, "Yeah, god, okay. You can meet them if you want."

_Score_!

I watched her as she kept chuckling, shaking her head at me.

"God," she said, cuddling into my lap again, a sure sign that the worst was over and all we had to do now was move on from it, "I thought you were going to ask me how many people I've killed or something."

Wait.

"_What_?"

* * *

I was nervous.

And Jade could tell.

"Would you quit _fidgeting_? And fix your face; you look like you're about to have your period."

I shot her a dark look, wiping my sweaty hands on my pants. Easy for her to say—she was one of them! I was just her lowly, out-of-work, amateur actor boyfriend.

Oh my god, what if her mafia friends deem me unworthy to date Jade and _shoot_ me, or something? Or what if they like, liquidate my assets?

Not that I have many, but _still_. I use to live in this RV back at my parent's house and I'd hate to lose that!

"Jade," I said, trying to keep up with her quick steps. She was wearing a short, fitted black dress and it flared to an end above her knees, giving me a lot to look at. "What if they think I suck?"

She looked back at me and shrugged easily, "Well then they'll be very good judges of character, won't they?"

"Jade," I stressed, I was nervous enough and her stupid long legs and witty insults weren't helping, "Could you at least slow down or something?"

"No. In case you haven't noticed, I always leave at the exact same time every day, and because of your incessant primping this morning, we're now running five minutes late."

"Five minutes," I mocked, rolling my eyes and ignoring her jab. I wasn't _primping_; I was just making sure my hair fell nicely. I'm trying to make an impression, okay? "Such a tragedy. God, who knew gangsters were so into promptness?"

She whirled around quickly, practically giving me whiplash, and baring her teeth at me.

"For the hundredth time Beck, we aren't gangsters, stop calling it that—there's a big difference. And you also need to stop mentioning it in public. As far as most people are considered, the mafia resides majorly in downtown Chicago and doesn't control most of their lives. We'd really like to keep it that way."

We stared at each other for a minute as I digested this piece of information. "So like, if I call one of your friends a gangster I'll get shot?"

She rolled her eyes. "They're not my friends, they're my team. And yeah, sure, you'll get shot. By me."

"Hey," I said only mildly offended as she hooked her fingers around my wrist and started walking again, "That was a super mean thing to say."

"Shut it," she answered back and I grumbled disconcertedly. We walked ahead in silence for a few more minutes before Jade came to an abrupt stop right in front a huge hotel.

"_This_ is where we're meeting your friends?"

"Stop calling them that!" Jade hissed, releasing my wrist only to thread her fingers through mine. "And yeah," she muttered back as the doorman ushered us inside, "This is mainly where we meet before jobs."

"Here?" I asked in a whisper as she led me across the gigantic lobby and towards the elevators, "Not like in a warehouse or something?"

She shot me a dry look as the elevator doors dinged open and she stepped inside. "You watch too much TV."

Well actually, I didn't. But I think the basic assumption when you're dealing with mobsters is that they meet in warehouses, right? Cause that's where they're less likely to get caught! Although, I suppose if the mafia owns the police anyways, there's no one to really catch them…although come on, there has to be _someone_ out there the mafia doesn't control, like maybe a division of detectives that focuses mainly on mob-related cases. Aw, but I hope not cause that means Jade would be more likely to get caught and I'd just hate that.

"Hey," I said suddenly worried, wanting to ask her about private detectives and warehouses, but I stopped short when I realized we were already standing right in front of two thick, oak doors. They were flanked on either side by these huge burly men in these awesome black three-piece suits.

"Is this it?" I asked, throat suddenly dry. I turned to look at Jade and I was surprised to find that she looked a bit nervous as well. She was biting her lower lip in any case, and I suddenly noticed her hand, still firmly enclosed in mine, was feeling a bit clammy.

"You okay?" I asked, pulling her slightly to the side so those giants near the door couldn't overhear—they seemed like the nosy type.

Jade took a deep breath in and nodded, tightening her hold on my hand.

"Just don't talk too much." She advised and before I even had the chance to be mildly offended, she was dragging me towards the doors and the giants were pulling them open and we were inside.

It looked like a living room I guess, just bigger and more ornate than I'd ever seen. The walls were like this muted gold color and there was a freaking crystal chandelier hanging high from the ceiling. I whistled lowly while taking it in, which I guess was tacky or something, cause Jade elbowed me hard in the ribs.

"Ouch," I looked down at her disapprovingly; ready to bring up the one-sided discussion we had a few weeks ago about how violence was never the answer, when two people entered through an open door on the far right.

"Hi!" beamed the girl in a squeaky little voice when she spotted us. She rushed over and looked from between me and Jade excitedly. Her hair was bright red and she was maybe five feet tall. Suddenly the whole mobster deal seemed a lot less impressive.

"That's Cat," Jade intoned, and I was still struck by the absolute harmlessness of her. _She_ could be in the mafia? That little red thing?

"Don't let her appearance fool you," Jade said, and she was either a mind reader, or the shock showed on my face, "Cat is one of the best coverts we have." And when Cat giggled, pleased with the compliment, Jade rolled her eyes and turned to face me again. "No ever suspects redheads."

Which, you know, I'm sure isn't true, but I wasn't about to comment on it.

I held my hand out and smiled. "I'm Beck," I offered, and she shook it giddily.

"I know!" she squealed, and then turned her attention to the guy who had entered behind her. He was fairly tall and built, looked more like mafia material than Cat at least, and he was also wearing really awesome dark suit like those guys guarding the doors. I looked down at my button down and slacks, feeling inadequate. I really needed one of those.

"Andre," he said holding out his hand, and I nodded, shaking it. "So you're the guy that's got our Jade all rattled up."

I turned to her and smirked, releasing Andre's hand. "Rattled up?"

Jade hissed and glared at Andre, "Screw you,"

"Jade has told us so much about you! She talks about you all the time!" Cat interrupted, and by Jade's snort and derivative eye roll, I'd say Cat was exaggerating a little. But before I had the chance to even make a teasing opportunity out of the statement, a couple more people walked in from a different door on the opposite end of the room.

"Told you they'd be here already," the girl said to the skinny guy next to her. He had way too much hair on his head (and not in the good way—I would know) and dorky glasses. All his lame features barely mattered though, because he too was wearing a classy dark blazer, which I guessed was dress code for these mafia types.

"Tori," Jade spoke, pointing first at the brown-haired girl, and then at the guy, "Robbie."

"Hey," both of them said, but Jade was still talking.

"We're all aware of Robbie's very unimpressive appearance." She drawled, "He doesn't get much at face-value. It's why he's tactician."

"Hey!" Robbie said offended, "I do so have face-value! Don't I Tori?"

"Uhm," Tori smiled prettily and patted Robbie's shoulder consolingly, "Well you're the best tactician we've ever had."

She turned to me then and offered a slyer smile, holding her hand out.

"And you must be Beck. I have to say, I'm sort of surprised you're less tattooed."

"Erm,"

"Actually, yeah," Andre said from beside her, "Jade doesn't generally go for the pretty boy types."

"Shut up," Jade advised everyone, but their conversation got me thinking about something else I had wanted to ask Jade yesterday when she'd confessed.

"Actually I was wondering," I started, snapping everyone's attention back to me, "If it was okay for Jade to tell me? About your…um, type of work?"

The four of them shared these little smiles with each other before Tori looked at me again.

"Normally no," she answered, gesturing for us to sit down on the lavish sofas, "For example Cat's married and her husband has no idea."

"_Really_?" I asked shocked, as Cat just nodded happily, like this was no big deal. "So then, why—"

"Well," Tori interrupted, looking at Jade, who was slouching heavily on the couch and muttering darkly under her breath, "Jade has the bad habit of overworking herself. She really likes being in the thick of the action, and normally it's not such a problem. But over the past few months, I assume since Jade started feeling guilty about keeping such a big secret from you, she's been getting…easily distracted. That's very dangerous for us, you see. I figured it would be smarter for her to just tell you the truth…or end it. I have to say, I was a bit surprised with the option she chose."

Well _I_ have to say, I was a bit surprised at _Tori_. Why would she be surprised at the option Jade chose? Of course she'd choose me, she loves me! But what surprised me even more was that Jade had listened to Tori and did what she said—it just wasn't very like her.

A soft _beep-beep_ interrupted the conversation, and everyone was suddenly alert. I had about a second to watch as Cat and Robbie stood up and walked out of the room, as Tori pulled her phone out of her pocket and put it to her ear before Jade gripped me by the shoulder and hastily pulled me up.

"We're leaving." She said at once, and started to drag me towards the doors we had entered from.

"Wait," Tori called, and expected Jade to just brush her off and keep walking, but she surprised me (again!) when she turned stiffly around to face her again. "It's just a drop," Tori said shrugging, "It'll take five minutes."

"I'm taking Beck _home_." Jade hissed back, and it was in such a scary voice I was legitimately worried when Tori didn't immediately back down.

"Take him after," she said flippantly, tossing her phone to Andre who caught it one handed, read the screen and pocketed it.

"I have to—"

"Jade," Tori said, narrowing her eyes, "You know as well as I do that you have to be there. They're early, I know that, they shouldn't have been here until seven, but what can we do? They're here now and it's just a simple drop. Beck can wait here."

"_No_," Jade hissed, suddenly vicious, "I'm not leaving him _here_. I'm taking him home, and I'll meet you there right after."

Tori was seeming to consider it. She looked from between me and Jade for a moment before focusing in on Jade and tilting her head to the side. When she spoke again, her voice was quiet, lofty.

"I'm a little surprised at you," Tori murmured, lifting her eyes away from Jade for a second and focusing on the rest of the team, walking swiftly and fluidly around us, preparing, "But fine. Meet us there. You have three minutes."

Jade nodded sharply once, grabbed my hand and started to pull when a new voice stopped us.

"Jade?" It was deep, masculine voice, soft and hard at the same time. It was posed like a question, but the amount of authority in it made me cringe, made me feel like we'd been caught doing something wrong. From the corner of my eye I saw Jade swallow hard before she released my hand and turned around again.

"Yes?" she asked stiffly, and I was surprised at the amount of respect her tone held.

He was a man in his late forties maybe, and I had no idea how long he'd been in the room, but he stood with one hand on Tori's shoulder as if he'd been there since we'd first walked in. He wasn't wearing a suit like the rest of the guys, and there was nothing very threatening about his relaxed stance, but he somehow had a menacing presence—something that told you he wasn't the type to mess with.

"Where are you going?" he asked in that same way, soft like a question, but hard like an order.

Jade shot me a desperate look from the corner of her eye before she completely composed her face. She was suddenly blank and indifferent, and she moved further away from me, crossing her arms over her chest.

I looked over at her, slightly hurt at the unusual abandonment as she answered.

"To the drop." She said softly, and the man nodded once, fixing his eyes on me for the first time.

"Get him some Kevlar," he said quietly to Tori, staring at me ominously. I fought not to look away from his piercing eyes, and the next thing I knew, Tori was in front of me, sliding a heavy bulk of padding over my head and giving me a grim look.

I craned my neck over Tori to look for Jade, who was studiously ignoring me. She had one leg propped on the coffee table and she lifted the hem of her dress slightly to fiddle with something on her upper thigh. I heard a click, then a snap before she placed her leg down again and smoothed the skirt out. She was standing next to Cat and they were huddled together, talking in hushed voices.

Jade wouldn't look at me.

"Sorry," Tori said softly from in front of me. I'd almost forgotten she was there, and as she tightened the strap of the bulletproof vest to my waist, she looked truly apologetic.

"It looks like you're coming with us.

* * *

_This got away from me, it was supposed to be short and funny, but it turned into a monster so it's going to be a two-shot. I've got most of the second part planned out, and I've already started it, so hopefully it'll be up next week or sooner._

_Also, A MOBSTER SAVED MY LIFE ONCE, GUYS. I mean, he saved me from being mugged-slash-raped, so it counts. It's what inspired this piece. Let me know what you think._

_Cheers. _


	2. part deux

_This chapter is less romance/humor, more romance/action._

_Also, someone asked in a review what the mafia is. I wish you had asked this logged in so I could answer privately, and for the rest of you who already know, please read ahead to the chapter. The mafia is a secret society of criminals of Italian descent (although, not in this story) who are very intelligent and very sneaky. They only go for large scale crime, so for example they'd never rob a gas station; rather they would find out where the gas is coming in from and find a way to steal it/make money off it. They're not really at large anymore (only mainly in Chicago and New York), but they use to be very much so in the 1920s. For a great way to learn about them, try watching mob classic movies like The Godfather and The Departed (a personal favorite). :) _

* * *

The car ride was terse and silent, and I had a funny feeling I was to blame.

We were all seated in this rather large town car with Andre driving up front, Tori beside him, and the rest of us in the back. Jade still had yet to really look at me, and although we were sitting next to each other so close I could feel the heat of her thigh through the fabric of my pants, the cool aloofness she'd adopted since talking with that man earlier made it feel like we were miles away.

Tori was being weird too, although I suppose I hadn't known her long enough to be able to tell if she really was being weird, or this was just normal behavior for her. She kept pivoting back in her seat to look at Jade, looking upset, but then some sort of fierce anger would settle over her features and she would turn back around again in a huff. This went on for a few minutes until Andre eased to a stop at a red light, and Tori turned to finally speak.

"Look, I'm _sorry_, Jade. I didn't want him to come with us either—"

"Shut up." Jade said, cutting her off calmly, she was looking steadily out the window, but as soon as Tori began talking her gaze hardened considerably.

"It's not really _my_ fault," Tori continued in a voice that could be considered nothing short of whiny, "I'm just doing this job the best I can—"

"Vega," Jade said, and although it was still in a calm voice, there was a layer of harsh iciness to it that seemed to chill the whole car, "I mean it. Stop talking."

Tori opened her mouth, presumably to _keep talking_ (good lord, this girl was dim) but Andre put a placating hand on her shoulder and she let out a heavy sigh through her nose, turning back around.

We drove the rest of the way in relative silence, which frankly, was fine by me. I hated being talked about like I wasn't there and I also hated confrontation, and since this situation included both, I was in a certain type of hell.

Fifteen minutes of awkward silence later, the scenery and studios and palm trees gave way to cobbled streets and tall, greying buildings. We had crossed into a more secluded, less tourist-trapped part of town, and Andre slowed to a halt in front of an obscenely large warehouse.

Huh. And just _what_ had Jade said earlier when I asked about her mobster meet-ups? _This_ decapitated building almost completely shrouded in shadows despite the shining of the sun is where I would have expected high-profile criminals to meet, not swanky hotels.

"Park down the street," Jade's voice broke through the silence, "So Beck and Robbie can wait in the car."

"Good idea, Jade!" Tori piped from the front seat, obviously still trying to get back on Jade's good side. But Jade continued to studiously ignore her as Andre eased the car forward until the warehouse was hidden from the view of the car.

"Alright," Andre said, opening the door and stepping out, "Let's get it done."

Tori got out right after him and Cat followed. Both of them slammed the doors and I could see them talking from outside the window, but I couldn't hear anything. I assumed the windows, which were thicker than any I'd ever seen and tinted so dark the entire car looked like it was in a permanent state of twilight, were bulletproof.

I turned to look at Jade and Robbie who were the only ones besides me still in the car. It was obvious Jade wanted to talk to me in private, but Robbie was obliviously typing away on a laptop he'd retrieved from under his seat earlier in the car ride. After a couple of seconds of some of the quickest typing I'd ever seen, he finally looked up at us.

"What?"

Jade shot him a short, no-nonsense look and he sighed heavily, sliding the laptop off his lap and closing the lid lovingly.

"I guess I'll be waiting outside, then." He mumbled, stepping out of the car and shutting the door behind him. I watched as he leaned his back against the door, the deep black of his blazer almost nonexistent against the heavy tint of the window.

"Beck," Jade called when we were alone. I turned to look at her and I saw her expression was still very much guarded.

"I'm only going to say this once," the icy blue of her eyes were hardened with seriousness, "Stay in this car. I don't care what happens; I don't care what anyone tells you. Just listen to _me_ and stay right here with the doors locked. We'll be back in five minutes."

I felt a lot like a kid being scolded by his mother, but even so, I understood. The warehouse would, after all, be full to the brim with mobsters and the like. I nodded, and when she slid over to get out of the car, I halted her and pulled her in for a kiss.

She responded for a beat, lips moving softly over mine before she moved away again.

"Be careful," I told her, still holding her face in my hands and she extracted herself from me, reaching for the car door and pushing it open.

"Five minutes," she told me, and then stepped out and slammed the door behind her. From the window I saw her exchange a few terse words with Robbie, and if the way he kept glancing nervously at the car was any indication, I was pretty sure the conversation revolved around me.

Then Jade walked calmly around the car up to the sidewalk. I followed her dark profile until she rounded the corner and disappeared around the bend. I stared at that spot for a very long moment, wondering just what the hell went on during these so-called "drops," and why Jade was all of a sudden so cold towards me. When I turned back around, I was mildly surprised to see that Robbie had already taken the seat across from me again, fiddling with his laptop.

Jade, I figured, would be even more closed off about this whole experience after today. She had let me meet her team, and now I was stuck outside one of their mobster meet-ups against her will. I would probably never get another word out of her about this whole business ever again.

I looked over at Robbie, typing away on his bulky laptop and squinting at the screen through his thick-framed glasses. This might be the last chance I had to find out more about what my girlfriend risks her life doing every night, and I wasn't about to waste it.

"Hey," I said suddenly, trying to feign nonchalance, "It's kind of funny how you all like, take orders from Tori and stuff."

Robbie's fingers stilled over the keyboard and he glanced up at me, confused. "Well it's not really that funny," he said simply, and then eyes refocused on the screen and his fingers were nothing more than a blur once more.

I cleared my throat and tried again. "So she's like captain, or something?"

Robbie snorted shortly, glancing up at me and pushing his glasses up with the back of his hand.

"Didn't Jade tell you what we call ourselves?"

"Angels," I answered quickly, thinking this was finally going to go somewhere, "She told me yesterday that you guys call yourselves Angels."

"Angels for short," Robbie corrected, fiddling with one of the millions of wires connected to his laptop before looking up at me again, "The full name is Victoria's Angels." He smiled and regarded me with amused eyes, "And what do you think Tori's full name is?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, immediately confused, "Wait, so—"

"Tori's great-grandfather was the original Angel; he started it up back in the 1920s, named it after his wife at the time. Tori is a direct descendant. That man you met earlier?" he motioned to my padded chest, "The one who decided for you to tag along? That's Tori father. He's the Boss. And after he retires, Tori'll be the Boss."

Oh. Suddenly a lot of things clicked into place. _That's_ why Jade listened to Tori's orders, even though she had such a hard time doing what people said. And no wonder she was so intimidated by that man earlier.

"He doesn't…" I pulled a face and started again, "He doesn't like me much, does he? That Boss guy?"

Robbie shrugged, tilting his neck to the side and cracking it before keying in a couple more numbers and turning to face me again.

"Put it this way, he likes _Jade_ a lot, which makes him absolutely hate you."

"_What_?" That didn't make any sense. Unless, of course, this whole mobster deal was a whole lot sicker than Jade had let on—

"People don't leave the Angels," Robbie said meeting my eyes solemnly, "People just let emotions get in the way. People get distracted by those emotions and people get into accidents."

I felt something icy crawl up and seize my heart at his words. Hadn't Tori mentioned something about Jade getting distracted just a little earlier? Was Jade at risk, even now at this very moment because of me? Because her thoughts were consumed with what was happening with me in this car?

"You're a danger," Robbie supplied helpfully, either not understanding the horrorstricken look on my face, or not caring either way, "To Jade and to yourself."

For a second I felt literally like I was underwater, like I couldn't take a breath in. I thought about all those times when Jade was outrageously late, when I would glance at the clock, see it was fast approaching one am, and dial her number furiously, leaving angry voicemails when she wouldn't pick up. What had she been doing in those moments? Had my fury, had my name flashing across the screen of her phone caused her to get hurt on more than one occasion? Was my presence right outside that abandoned building causing her inner turmoil and making her distracted the way everyone claimed?

I felt the guilt and responsibility deep inside my bones. I suddenly wished I didn't know, I wished she had kept me in the dark forever like Cat's halfwit husband, I even wished she hadn't _met_ me, if only because it meant she wouldn't be putting herself at risk by thinking about _me_—

"What?" Robbie asked sharply and out of the blue.

"I didn't say anything," I said confused, but Robbie was looking away from me, pressing a finger into his ear and furrowing his eyebrows.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath, snapping the computer closed and sliding it away from him.

"What happened?" I asked concerned, but he just ignored me and reached down under my seat to retrieve a thick silver briefcase from near my feet. With a grunt, he hauled it into his lap, coded in a combination and snapped it open, pulling out a thin black revolver.

"Woah!" I said, holding up my hands and staring at the gun wide-eyed, but he didn't even seem to hear. He just clicked the top into place, checking for bullets I guess, before he twirled it once around his index finger and tucked it into the back of his pants.

God, for a nerdy looking guy he really knew how to wield that thing!

He tucked the briefcase back under the seat and turned to me, "I have to go," he said, sliding his hand to the door handle.

"Wait!" I called frantically, thinking only of Jade, "What happened?"

Robbie just shook his head pulled the door open. "Do _not_ leave this car." He ordered sternly, and before I could protest or open my mouth or anything, he had slammed the car door shut and sprinted off towards the building.

I pressed my head into my hands, heart beating wildly against my ribcage as I watched him disappear around the bend. What had happened that Robbie had to rush inside? Tori had said it was just a simple "drop", Jade had said Robbie was only tactician and didn't do any of the dirty work, so why had Robbie gone in with a loaded _gun_?

My head was reeling as I tried to make sense of everything. Jade was inside and inside something had gone wrong. Inside Robbie had taken a gun—a gun inside the same space as Jade, anything could be happening right now—

But—

But hadn't Jade said just yesterday that she was the best? Hadn't she said that she was incredibly well-trained? And who was I going to listen to, really? Robbie and Tori who I'd just met, who claimed I was a distraction to Jade, or my longtime girlfriend who I loved entirely?

I would just have to trust her, I thought, relaxing back into my seat. I would just have to believe that she'd been through things like this before and that she'd get out of it okay—

A sharp, sickening _crack_ echoed from a short distance away and I was stumbling out of the car before I even had the chance to process it.

I had no idea what I was going to do, but I knew for sure that it was a gunshot that had just gone off, and there was nothing around for miles but that old building they'd all just willingly walked into.

Jade was the only thought in my mind as I hurried down the side walk and around the corner until I reached the front of the warehouse.

I swallowed briefly; it was even more intimidating up front than it was from the car. I had about three seconds to remind myself that there were a bunch of criminals with destructive weapons inside that place, and that I was a guy who couldn't even watch a full episode of _CSI: Miami_ without cringing, before I took a steeling breath and rushed towards the slightly opened garage door and ducked inside.

It was close to pitch black inside, and the only light that steamed in was from the opening I'd entered from. Further in though, I couldn't see anything that would offer light. This thought immediately worried me and I spent a few minutes just blinking, adjusting to the darkness, and when I started moving forward, I could almost easily make out the rough shapes of walls and wooden crates.

I had no idea where to go or what I should do. I kept thinking of Jade, and that echoing gunshot, and wondering where the hell she could be. As I walked further in, I heard distant sounds, like scuffles and muted thuds. I swallowed nervously, thinking of every gangster movie I'd ever seen. They were a race of people who loved violence and torture, and what else could be going on in there but a fierce fight?

Although I had no weapons and nothing to arm myself with, I walked towards the noise. I came to the end of what looked like a hall, and as I kept walking further in, the sounds increased. Now there were indistinct grunts, startling _bangs_ that sounded like things—or _people_—were being thrown around and loud, echoing thuds.

I stopped short in the hall. Maybe it was a bad idea to go into the room? After all, the only reason I'd even come in was because I had heard a gunshot, and I hadn't heard another one since. Wasn't it possible that everything was fine, and I was worrying over nothing?

I was going to turn back around and head back the way I came when I heard a short, familiar laugh.

I barreled straight inside, only to find Jade in the middle of the room, panting and standing over a man who was sprawled before her on his stomach. She had a thick black gun—a _gun_!—and was aiming it with both hands at the man's head.

"You should have known better," she was saying in a soft, threatening voice, and I was struck by the absolute menace in it. I took a tentative step closer, and in doing so scuffed my shoe harshly over the concrete floor. Jade's head shot up at the sound and she stared at me, shocked.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" she screeched, just as the man below her gave a feeble groan. Jade reared her foot back and kicked him hard on the head before rushing over to me.

She was livid, fuming, I'd never seen her so mad. She shoved me back out of the room and made me stumble down the hall.

"What do you think you're doing in here? After I specifically told you not to leave the fucking car!"

"I heard gunshots," I defended as she rushed me back out to the garage, "And who was that guy?"

"No one! God, get back and wait in the car! You can't be in here you idiot—"

"_Robbie_ left—"

"_Robbie_, for all his idiocy and clumsiness is _trained_; you're probably just going to get yourself killed—"

"Would you really have shot that guy? And I thought it was just a simple drop? Why the hell are shots being fired—?"

"_It's none of your business!_" she screeched, coming to a halt in front of me, "None of this is any of your goddam business I told you to _wait in the car_—"

"Hey!" Someone called from the back of the room.

Jade immediately bristled at the sound, she stood in front of me and held her gun out, "Whose there?" she demanded.

"We have to get out of here," Andre hissed, coming out of the darkness and rushing towards us. Jade shot me a final withering look (which I, uhm, you know, totally didn't wilt under or anything) before she lowered her weapon and focused her attention fully on Andre.

"What happened?" she asked fiercely, scanning over the area above Andre's head for a second before looking at him again, "Where are the others?"

"We need to go," Andre repeated hastily, ignoring Jade's question and fixing on me for the first time since he ran over. His face lit up in a smile.

"Oh, hey man. What're you doing in here? Did the car get too hot?"

"I heard gunshots," I confessed, scratching absently at the back of my neck, "Although yeah, now that you mention it, it was getting a little steamy in there."

Andre shook his head, looking sorry, "Aw, I feel like crap. I was thinking to leave the keys in there, you know so you could crank the AC or crack a window or whatever, but I totally forgot."

I smiled and waved his apologies away, "Hey, don't even worry about it, I—"

"Are you morons really," Jade hissed through clenched teeth, eyes glinting dangerously, "Having this conversation _right now_?"

"Right," Andre said, looking down at his gun as if to remind himself of the type of dangerous situation we were in, "Right, we need to leave." He emphasized for the third time, putting one hand on each of us and leading us to the exit.

"Where—" Jade started again, but he cut her off, already answering.

"Cat's scanning the perimeter for others, Tori and Robbie are back there with—" he cast me a sidelong glance before looking ahead again, "With you know who. Things are pretty bad."

Jade skidded to a stop, fisting her hands on her hips and glaring at Andre. "What do you mean, bad?" she hissed, looking over her shoulder, "Do they need backup? God, Vega's gunna kill us if we let his daughter die."

"Ah, no," Andre said chucking slightly and pushing on Jade to get her moving again, "I meant pretty bad for the other guy. Tori's royally pissed and you know she doesn't believe in mercy for double-crossers."

"Oh," Jade said, and we all stood in silence for a second. For the first time, we heard a long drawn out scream—pleas and whimpers—echoing all around the bare walls of the warehouse. Jade smirked and hooked her fingers around my wrist, pulling me forward. "Good on you, Vega." She murmured, before pushing me towards the exit.

I gripped onto her wrist with my other hand and pulled her forward as well.

"You're coming with me." I demanded, and Jade growled, tearing her arm out of my grasp.

"Get outside, Beck," she ordered, fisting her hands on her hips. I eyed the thick gun she had clasped in her right hand nervously before looking at her again and fixing my expression back to seriousness.

"I am not leaving," I told her firmly, "Unless you come with me."

"Beck," she hissed, but before she had the chance to say more, Andre cussed severely from beside us, drawing our attention back to him.

"This is a mess," Andre muttered, typing frantically into his phone, "The shit has officially hit the fan. We're gunna be dealing with this for weeks…"

But I'd stopped listening. Something didn't feel right. Andre was still going on about the mess they'd have to clean up afterwards, and although Jade was facing him, she was only half-listening. She would glance at me every few seconds and motion violently towards the door.

I shook my head resolutely every time. I wouldn't go without her.

But still, something itched. I kept blinking against the darkness behind Jade's head, trying to tune out the sound of Andre's lengthy explanation so I could focus more clearly. I felt weird, prickly, I wanted more than anything to get the hell out of there with Jade clasped firmly to my side. Something just didn't feel right—

And then I saw it, a shuffle of movement so swift and muted it could have been my imagination.

I squinted heavily, trying to make out just what it was I'd seen when a quick reflection of light caught my eye, a glint of metal or silver camouflaged almost completely in the thick darkness and aimed, somehow, towards Jade…

"Beck," came her voice, and it felt very far away, "What's wrong—?"

"_Get down_!" I screamed, suddenly understanding, and I didn't have time to think of Andre; there was only Jade and safety, and trying desperately to get her there. I grabbed her by the forearms and pulled her to the ground just as a sickening _crack_ echoed through the air above us.

Jade grunted, cussed furiously from where she had landed atop me and stood gracefully, making me get up as well. She pushed both of us swiftly behind a heavy wooden crate and peeked out from behind it, firing a rapid barrage of bullets back.

The sound was deafening, nauseating, each bang of a gun going off went through me like physical torture, my stomach was churning, my eyes were starting to water.

I glanced back and saw the door, still slightly ajar, and touched Jade's upper arm, the one that wasn't preoccupied with trying to kill a guy. We had to get out—

"Get out of here!" she screeched at me, still turned away and focused on the person crouched on the opposite side of the room. One of her unrelenting bullets hit the corner of the wall the man was hiding behind and the plaster exploded violently, raining a fury of chipped dust on all of us.

"Come with me!" I yelled back over the din. Shots were going off endlessly and someone was yelling from across the room, Andre was still nowhere to be seen. "Babe," I roared, "We need to get out of here! Come with me!"

"Beck!" she screamed, still not turning around, still not facing me, and I knew she had to stay focused on the men shooting at us, but it made me so mad that she hadn't even glanced at me since that first shot had been fired, "Get the fuck out of here! I'll meet you in a minute!"

I roared, so angry I could hardly contain myself. I gripped Jade above the shoulders and pulled her back to face me. Her hair was completely disheveled and her eyes were heavily dilated, the gun in her hand was smoking slightly.

"_I am not leaving without you!_" I screamed at her, shaking her by the shoulders. This wasn't okay and I wouldn't just leave her here, I didn't care how much experience she had, or how well-trained she was. She was _human_—flesh and blood and capable of pain and injury and death the same as anyone else, and I needed to get her to safety.

"God, Beck."

She said it in barely a whisper, and somehow, even over the uproar I could hear her loud and clear. Her eyes softened and she lifted her empty hand hesitantly, putting it to my cheek. I searched her eyes, so open and blue and determined, and I swooped down, slanting her head and pressing my mouth to her parted lips.

It was harsh and angry, I was still so mad at her I could barely think straight and Jade seemed to be pretty pissed herself. She held herself desperately to me, wrapped her arms around my neck and I could feel the butt of her gun against my shoulder blade and it made me even angrier. I pushed her up against the crate, pressing and pressing until she was basically squished, until we were basically one person and I nipped my way into her mouth, gripping her hard on the ribs, just below the swell of her breasts. It was less like a kiss and more like a punishment, more like a penance—for not telling me and then telling me, for putting herself in such danger and then not trying to get herself away from it, for joining in the first place and not listening and _breaking my heart_ and—

Something exploded violently above our heads, the thunderous sound and shock of it seemed to vibrate through the very floors, breaking us apart and causing us to tumble to the floor in a heap. My head hit the side of something sharp, and I immediately felt it split open, a searing pain racked my entire body. I moaned helplessly, and my eyes were shut tight but I could feel the heat of Jade body by my side and I reached blindly out with my hand, brushed the outside of her knuckle with the tips of my fingers—

I heard a grunt, manlier than any Jade could make, and I felt a harsh pressure on my neck as something hoisted me up to my feet. It was hurting me even more, whatever it was, and wanted it to stop. I was still dazed by the explosion but I could feel myself being dragged, and then I felt something jab me hard on the side of the head.

I groaned against the harsh force, trying to turn my head away from it, but it only pressed harder, firmer onto my skull, intensifying my headache. I tried to shake my head, and slowly I forced my eyes open, knowing that things were bad and I had to be as alert as possible. There was the heat of a body against my back, but it was much too big, much too solid to be the feminine softness of Jade.

When I finally managed to crack my eyes open, I saw that I was somehow in the middle of the room rather than near the exit. I realized the only reason I was even standing was because I was basically being held up by a meaty hand on my neck and Jade was just starting to stand from across the room. She righted her position and her eyes fixed on me—

"_Get the hell away from him!_"

I had never heard her voice take on that sort of pitch; it was crazed and borderline hysteric. She looked completely frazzled, her eyes were wide and I could see that even though she stood tall, her knees were trembling precariously.

"Now, now, pretty girl," a silken voice said mockingly from right behind me, "I don't think you're in any position to be making demands, hmm?"

The man tightened his hold on my neck almost to the point of choking, but I could barely feel it. My blurry vision was focused on Jade, a few feet away. Her eyes were darting rapidly all around the room, as if looking for a way to get out of this, before they would land back to the man and me. Her gun was firm and pointed right above my head, and for the first time I vaguely registered that the thing pressed against the side of my head was also a gun.

"He isn't a part of this," she spoke, resting her eyes on the man. Her voice was more controlled now, but when she lowered her eyes to look at me, I saw wild desperation in them, "Let him go."

Vaguely, the part of my head that wasn't screaming that I was going to die, found a lot of humor in this reversal of roles. Only Jade could be the knight in shining armor to my damsel in distress.

The man chuckled lightly, and it was such a menacing sound that I felt all humor evaporate as a shiver of unease worked its way down my spine.

"Why would I do that?" he asked in a good-natured tone, pressing the gun still more firmly to my skull, "This seems to be having a delicious effect on you, no Jade?"

Her eyes hardened and her legs stopped shaking. She bared her teeth viciously and took a step closer.

"Ah, ah, ah!" he scolded, stepping back once himself and dragging me with him. He tapped the butt of his gun twice against my throbbing head and I hissed loudly. "Such hostility!" he said in false offense, "And I distinctly remember Tori telling me the Angels were my friends!"

"We're not friends with double-crossers!" Jade snarled, rearing her head at him, "We had a deal, there are rules in this game, Schneider!"

"Hmm," the man hummed from above me. His fingers dug more severely into my neck and I grimaced against my will. Jade made a muffled sound in the back of her throat and tried to come forward again. "Well then Jade, why don't you put the gun down and explain them to me?"

"If you let him go," she said hoarsely, "And wait until he gets out the door, I'll do anything you want."

"Jade!" I called croakily, speaking for the first time since this whole ordeal "Don't be stupid!"

"Ah, it speaks!" the man crackled, shaking me gleefully by the scruff of my neck and making my head spin.

"Stop it! _Get that gun off his head_, let him go, and then we'll talk."

"But if I just let him go," the man said, voice laced with false sadness, "Then I'll lose all this leverage I have over you. And I'd just hate that." He paused for a second, and I could feel the gun digging harshly into my scalp.

"And I tire of these games. Put your gun down and slide it over to me in the next five seconds, or I blow his head off."

"Don't!" I yelled, not wanting her to be left defenseless, but the man jabbed me in the head again, telling me to shut up. It wouldn't have mattered anyways. Jade was already crouching onto the floor and sliding the gun way across the room. She raised her empty hands above her head.

"Good, good!" he crowed from behind me. "Now, I came here for a certain something Miss West, and if you want to see your little boyfriend live another day, I suggest you hand it over."

"Fine." Jade answered simply.

"Fine?"

"Yes, fine."

"Oh, well, okay then—"

"_ANDRE!_"

And the next thing I knew, I was shoved violently to the floor and pushed into the corner of the room. There was a muffled crash and several bangs, I covered my head as I recognized the sounds of gunfire and tried to find Jade in all the chaos.

I raised my head and saw her standing tall way across the room. I watched transfixed as she lifted the hem of her flared black skirt and there, strapped tightly to her upper thigh was another pistol. She unstrapped it, raised it with both hands above her head and fired twice at the ceiling, so a whole mess of it came crashing down. I realized what she was aiming for when I saw the meaty man lying in a heap on the floor some feet away, debris from the ceiling weighing him down. Andre was limping towards her, and Jade, who had been knocked down by the force of her own explosion, was standing on shaky feet but the man—the man was raising shakily too, was roaring something, was red-faced and spitting angry and he lifted his arm into the air, the one with a deeply metal gun and he was going to pull the trigger and—

And I was running, taking off towards Jade and Andre because I could tell where he had pointed it. I crossed the room in desperate strides, just as I heard the booming, sickening roar of the gun going off, and then there was only Jade, her face was right there in front of me and screaming something and I had to get her away before she got hurt—

Something lodged itself deeply into my side, causing me to fall forwards. The pain of it was so jarringly intense it took my breath away, I could not draw air into my lungs anymore and I was gasping and falling over and Jade was screaming, I couldn't hear what she was saying but I knew it was her, I knew the texture of her voice and she was right there, then. I could smell the scent of her lavender shampoo, her hair was tickling my nose and the pain was so fluid, so never-endingly piercing I just wanted it to end; I just wanted to die right there with my throbbing head on Jade's lap and her hair tickling my nose and the heady texture of her voice screaming screaming screaming.

And as if someone was finally listening, everything went suddenly and peacefully black.

* * *

"—_Bad enough as it is, you don't have to be such an asshole about it."_

"_Totally forgot about me! I mean, it was heroic and all, but god, we're not exactly in the business of playing hero, are we—"_

"—_never should have even been in there on the first place! You were supposed to make sure he didn't leave the car!"_

"—_Should've child-locked it, or something."_

My head was throbbing steadily and there was a soft pressure against my back. The voices were hazy, close by and _loud_, so I groaned against them. Then there was finally a hushed silence, and I tried to shift to a more comfortable position, only to feel a stinging pain in my abdomen that took my breath away.

I groaned again, louder this time and the voices were back almost twice as loud. They were just a jumble of noises and sounds, too many and too sharp; my head felt like it would burst open. And then—

"Beck," soft and lilting, closer than the others but softer too, familiar, "Beck, listen; try to open your eyes, okay?"

I tried. _Jade_, I recognized sluggishly, and there was a cool weight in my hand, a silken thumb rubbing comforting circles over my knuckles. It was way too bright in the room, and for a second I just squinted up at the hazy figures.

"You're awake!" One squealed excitedly, all I could make out was deep red, and right next to her was someone taller and thinner with too much hair on his head, "Quiet down, Cat," he said in an exasperated voice, "His head is probably killing him."

It was, and I was glad _someone_ seemed to care about that fact. My vision cleared slightly and I could make out a glimmering row of teeth, "I guess you're not very good at following directions." He said to me, "And you left the car door wide open! Someone could have stolen my laptop!"

"Robbie, that is not the main issue here!" A more feminine voice admonished. I could recognize Tori now, wringing her hands worriedly from a few feet away.

"This is all my fault," she said looking tortured, "I was in with Schneider's men for way too long, I was just so mad at them, you know? If we had gotten out quicker you probably wouldn't have gotten shot!"

I had gotten shot? That was news to me. But it did explain the agonizing pain in my side.

"You were wearing Kevlar," a soft voice said right from beside me, "So the bullet didn't break skin. It'll probably leave a bruise though."

_Jade_, my thoughts seemed to clear as I focused in on her. She was sitting right beside me, and I registered for the first time that the firm softness beneath me was a bed. She looked exhausted, the bags under her eyes were unconcealed and there were grim lines around her mouth. She was wearing the same dress from before, black and beautifully flared and—

"Jade," my voice was so croaked and disgusting, I barely recognized it myself. Worry was consuming my entire body as I remembered a glint of silver aimed right at her, "Are you okay?"

She looked for a second like she couldn't fully believe what I'd just asked. She blinked twice then, and fury settled over her features. Still glaring at me, she growled to the rest of the room, "Out. Now."

There was a chorus of grumbles and whines as everyone followed orders. Andre, who I hadn't noticed leaning against the wall on the side of the room ruffled my hair on the way out.

"You busted your head open," she hissed when we were alone, "Were held hostage by the most dangerous man in LA and got shot in the stomach by his favorite Beretta. And you want to know if _I'm_ okay?"

We were both quiet for a moment as I digested this.

"Is a Beretta like, a type of gun or something?"

Jade made a desperate sound low in her throat and doubled over in her seat, burying her face in her hands.

"Beck," she moaned frustrated, "I _told_ you to stay in the car, what were you _thinking_—"

"Am I interrupting?"

We both snapped our heads to the door, (something I really regretted doing, because my head started spinning again) and I was startled to find Tori's father standing there, staring at us. I felt immediately nervous; a wild fear gripped my stomach as I recalled how Jade much was intimidated by this man, when I realized that I would probably get into a lot of trouble for going into the warehouse in the first place.

"_Yes_." Jade snarled, standing and glaring up at the man. I was startled her hostility, by her contempt. Hadn't she been following this man's every order just yesterday?

"Still angry, I see," he said like he wasn't very bothered by the fact. He walked further into the room and stopped a few feet away from my bed. "She threw quite the fit yesterday." He told me smoothly, "Terrified half the people in this hotel into checking out early."

"Well this is all your fault!" she accused heatedly, and I was very tempted to tell her to calm down and not antagonize this man. He was scary when he was calm, I didn't want to even imagine what he'd be like if he lost his temper.

"Um,"

"If you don't mind," he said placidly, turning to face Jade and ignoring my very eloquent statement, "I'd like to have a word alone with Beck."

"Hell no!" Jade shrieked, but I was abruptly curious about what he could possibly have to say to me.

"Jade," I murmured, "It's fine."

She stared at me surprised for a second before she lifted her head in a sneer and turned away from us. "He needs his rest," she said stiffly to Tori's father, placing a hand on the door, "So make it quick."

If felt like forever before he even said anything. He spent a good amount of time scrolling through his phone and rearranging some brightly colored flowers in their vases. When he finally turned to face me, I was a nervous mess.

"I heard about your acts of heroics yesterday." He said very quietly and I gulped, trying to hold his gaze as he stalked closer. The words he said were complimentary, but the way he spoke them made them sound insulting, "Of course, some would call them acts of foolishness."

He came to a stop right at the head of my bed, looking down on me.

"You have quite a soft spot for our Jade, I think," he muttered, almost sounding like he was talking to himself, "And she, for whatever reason, seems to have one for you."

I couldn't even bring myself to be offended. My heart was beating like crazy, and I'm not sure if this man even realized it, but every word he said, no matter how innocent, sounded like a threat.

"Andre tells me you practically saved Jade's life," he said so softly I had to strain my ears to hear, "Twice. Is that right?"

I swallowed, suddenly very thirsty, and nodded once. My head was spinning again, and I really wanted him to leave. I shouldn't have told Jade I wanted to talk to him alone; I wanted her back in here with me.

He nodded once in response, and then reached into the lapel of his black blazer. I felt my heartbeat pick up frantically at the sight, I didn't like the slow deliberate way he drew his hand into there, I'd seen too many of these movies before, and they almost always involved a scary gangster and coat pockets and a bullet hole through your head—

With slim fingers he drew out a thin black phone, very similar to the one Tori had answered the day before, when all this began.

"I believe," he murmured in a soft, slow voice, he was looking down at the device cradled loosely in his palm as if debating something. "I owe you for keeping one of my most valued employees alive."

My breath hitched embarrassingly when he bent down beside me and placed the phone on my pillow, right next to my head. I watched with wide eyes as he turned smoothly and walked back towards the door. He placed a hand on the handle, tilted his head back and looked at me with half-lidded eyes.

"Call me if you ever feel the itch to play foolish hero again. The world could always use a few more Angels."

* * *

And that's it! It's open-ended guys, use your own imagination and decide if Beck joins the mafia or not.

Yes, named the bad guy Schneider, no it doesn't mean anything.

Also, for the people who asked about my own mobster story, I'll tell it here, and for those if you who don't care, kindly skip down to the review button!

Right, so after I graduated high school, I moved away to New York, and I was like pretty broke and working only a little more than minimum wage, so I lived in a pretty shitty part of town. I use get off work late and I'd have to take the bus home and me and this guy would be like the only ones riding it. If you live in certain parts of certain cities long enough, you start to recognize gang/mob symbols, and he wore this ring on this thumb that had a symbol of a local mob (If you live near Poughkeepsie you probably have an idea of the mob I'm talking about.) One time when we got off at our stop, these obnoxious guys started saying shit to me, and because I'm an idiot who can't keep her mouth shut, I insulted them back and they started following after me and asking me what color my panties were and shit. My apartment was still like a block away, and needless to say I was pretty terrified, but then that same guy from the bus (the mobster!) started just like _walking right beside_ to me. And at first I was all like, "wtf" and I was even _more_ scared, but when I looked back, I saw those dumb guys had gotten scared too, and stopped following us and I was like "Oh, awesome." And he was all, "You shouldn't be by yourself so late at night." And I was all "Um, okay, thanks?" And then he just walked away from me! Yeah I know, not so exciting, but still, I think it was a lovely thing to do for a stupid young lady.

Also, I finally joined the twitter realm. Follow for questions or updates:

sara_crisis

Cheers.


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